Our Team

Leadership

We’re a passionate team of Christ-followers compelled by the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. We’re “all in” when it comes to loving God, loving our neighbors, and building up others to transform the world for Christ.

Hedwig Mbaziira Birungi

Executive Director – Uganda

The Mother Teresa of Uganda, Hedwig, is equal parts gentleness and strength. As a widow, she knows first hand the difficulties of raising children on her own, yet the grace and provision God gives. For 12 years, she worked for the Uganda Women’s Effort for Orphans and during that time, joined an orphan committee at the church where BTCM first started. Hedwig has worn every hat from our humble beginnings to where we are today: from bringing children into her own home, leading construction, and transitioning our ministry to a new property. Hedwig is now BTCM’s Executive Director for Uganda and oversees all the day-to-day operations.

Nyakahuma Allan Apuuli

Assistant Director – Uganda

Part of the BTCM family since 2010, Allan served as a volunteer for five years before he came on staff as Assistant Director. He is the one to always lighten the mood of a staff meeting with his quick-witted humor. Allan endlessly testifies, “Everyone that has come onboard, including the kids, has been a miracle.” His perspective is always through the lens of us having a good Father, and giving God glory. Allan has a heart for discipleship and is responsible for overseeing BTCM’s construction, groundskeeping team, and supporting US mission teams. If he’s not working, he’s chasing down a soccer ball, eating Ugandan pancakes by the bucket full or exploring on a long road trip.

Marsha Baker

Director of Programs & Mobilization

Marsha is the unofficial adopted daughter/sister of our BTCM staff and has been the bridge between our US staff and the happenings of BTCM in Uganda, since the beginning. Marsha has lived lengths of time in UG over the years helping ensure our children and staff receive all support and resources from the U.S. that they need to thrive. Marsha has recently transitioned from being the head of our sponsorship department, to working directly with our Ugandan team to focus on mobilization and strategy for our BTCM campus and being an advocate and voice for the needs our children have, representing them here in the U.S.

Mariam Ssesanga

Head Teacher, Canaan Primary

Mariam is a strong, tenacious woman who finds creative ways to do things when there seems to be no way. She joined our team when we were “homeschooling” our children on the old campus – something you typically never done in Uganda. Mariam isn’t scared of forging her own path and it has led to her starting the BTCM Canaan Primary School, high-quality Christian education for our children. She trusts Jesus each and every day as we challenge her to do even greater things in the education program for our children, following the vision and plan God is revealing. Mariam leads with compassion, determination and sets an incredible example for our young girls to follow after!

Taylor Cochran

Executive Director – USA

Taylor found a passion for discipleship, community development, and global missions while doing microfinancing in Honduras. As the U.S. Executive Director of BTCM, he uses his years of experience to oversee operations and act as a liaison with the board of directors. His role also includes team discipleship and visiting Mabaale to strategize and continue building vision with the Ugandan team. He’s loved by the kids and staff for his background in music allowing him to keep up with the frequent singing and dancing that happens on campus. Taylor lives in Nashville, TN with his wife Kelley where they believe that if you want to change the world, it starts in the home. He uses this strategy to lead BTCM to stay child-focused through family development.

Lydia Kangume

Nurse

Lydia grew up in the BTCM program and knows first hand how it feels to be vulnerable. Her father was completely disabled when a tree fell on him and this sent her family into complete poverty. Her mother spends the majority of her time caring for her father which forced the children to drop out of school to earn income for the family. Lydia came to BTCM originally as a house mom and is still considered one of the most loved housemoms of all time! She faithfully served for 2 years at which point she asked if she could return to school. She completed her nursing degree and felt called to return and serve her BTCM family as our nurse. Her love for Jesus shines as she serves our children medically with a servant’s heart, love of a mother, and tender touch!

Christine Asaba

Acting Warden (Head Social Worker)

Christine grew up in the BTCM program, so she knows first hand what it is like to be a vulnerable child in Uganda. A desire to advocate for other children grew in her heart as God transformed her life through the program. She studied Social Work at Makerere University and has been on the BTCM team for 4 years. She is currently acting as Head of our Social Work team. She is passionate about family restoration, seeing our children grow in maturity, and helping them learn to follow Jesus.

Shelli Jones

Sponsorship Director

Shelli comes to the team with a wide array of experience: banking, international missions in China, nonprofit orphan care, and most recently on staff with Ethos church. She and her husband live in Tulsa with their adopted daughter from Bulgaria and as an Oklahoma native, considers herself a “Tulsa Random Fact” expert, ask her anything! Shelli’s heart for discipleship, relational bent, and administrative giftedness uniquely qualifies her for this role. She oversees the recruitment, engagement, and retention of child and staff sponsors along with providing vision and leadership to the sponsorship program and overall US development.

Francis Ntege

Head Accountant

Francis left a comfortable life in the big city to come and serve our children. As a Certified Public Accountant and experience as an audit assistant for several organizations, he makes sure donations are prioritized for the needs our children have, used correctly, and accounted for each and every day. Francis is not only extremely gifted in keeping accounts for BTCM’s ministry caring for 300 children, but he passionate about mentoring orphaned and vulnerable children. Francis makes spending quality time with several of our young boys loving, teaching bible studies, and training them about Jesus, a top priority in the things he carries out for BTCM.

Tiffany Edison

Book Keeper

Tiffany has been part of our ministry for many years, having been to Uganda multiple times with BTCM. She and her husband Isaiah live in Tulsa, OK and have two children, a daughter Savannah whom she adopted from BTCM years ago and their son Noah. Tiffany has years of experience in international missions and studied Ministry Leadership at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Her background, deep love for drawing people to the heart of God, and passion for the mission and vision for our ministry make her a perfect fit for this role! She handles the bookkeeping and financial records for BTCM.

Kenzie Chabino

Communications Coordinator

Kenzie spent her first summer in Mabaale with us when she was only 13 years old. That trip completely changed her life instilling a passion to continuously serve with and advocate for BTCM. She has since returned three other times with BTCM, including being part of our internship program in Uganda for the summer of 2018. She currently lives in Waco, TX where she recently graduated from Baylor University with her Marketing Degree. She currently oversees the marketing, creative design and all communications within the ministry.